Self-adjusting heelpiece for shoe forms



Sept. 9, 1941. J. B. MUTCH SELF-ADJUSTING HEELPIECE FOR SHOE FORMS Filed Dec. 2 1940 Patented Sept. 9, 1941 James B. Mutch, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Schelter Last 00., Inc., Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 28, 1940, Serial No. 372,123

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to shoe trees or forms and more specifically to a self-adjusting heel piece designed for use in connection with such shoe forms and particularly in connection with longitudinally yielding expansible forms.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a self-adjusting heel piece for expansible shoe forms which, when the form is inserted in a shoe, will effectively restore or preserve the shape of the heel portion of the shoe by the equalized distribution of pressure on the heel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a self-adjusting heel piece for shoe forms of this character which will automatically accommodate variations in the vertical curvature and slant of the heel portions of shoes in which the shoe form is used.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such a heel piece for shoe forms which is extremely simple in its construction and which will permit the shoe form with which it is associated to be more easily and conveniently inserted into a shoe and operated than other devices of this character.

The provision of a self-adjusting heel piece which is rugged and durable; one which may be manufactured economically; one which is possessed of a minimum number of moving parts and which therefore is unlikely to get out of order; and one which otherwise is well adapted to perform the services required of it, are further desirable features that have been borne in mind in the development and production of the present invention.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention not at this time enumerated will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, one embodiment of the invention is shown. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the improved self-adjusting heel piece showing the same operatively associated with an expansible shoe tree.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of Figure 1.

In all of the above-described views, like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts throughout.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the shoe form or tree with which the improved heel piece is incorporated involves in its general organization a toe or vamp portion it which may be of more or less conventional design and which, for illustrative purposes, consists of a pair of complementary separate half-sections or members l2 shaped to conform to the interior contour of the forward or toe portion of a shoe. The members l2 are movable toward and away from each other and are maintained slightly spaced by means of a compression spring 14 which is interposed therebetween. Suitable guiding means, as, for example, elongated wood screws l6 and [8, which extend through one member and are secured in the other are provided to maintain the sections properly juxtaposed and also to limit the extent of separation of the members. Since the design of the toe portion of the shoe tree is more or less conventional, no claim is made herein to any novelty associated therewith. Other forms of toe portions whether the same be expansible or rigid may be utilized in connection with the present invention which resides rather in the novel form of self-adjusting heel portion now to be more fully described A tubular two-part expansible thrust member 20 serves to connect the toe portion H] to a heel portion 22 and includes a pair of telescopic sections 24 and 25 which are maintained in their telescopic relationship by a pin and slot connection 23, and which are maintained in an extended relationship by a spring. The forward end of the member 2 3 is slidably pivoted to the guiding screw it and is freely movable laterally between the two sections 12 of the toe portion ill.

The heel portion 22 is preferably of oval or goose egg configuration in accordance with conventional practice in connection with shoe forms of this character. The heel portion is provided with a socket or recess 36 having a fiat substantially oval base or bottom 32 and opposed end wall portions 34 and side wall portions 35 which are generally parallel. The surfaces of the side and end wall portions 34, 35 merge into one another and the walls of the socket terminate in a generally oval-shaped rim 36. The socket 30 is generally of a width slightly greater than the thickness of the tubular member 26 and receives therein the rear end of this latter member. A pintle pin 36 extends through the heel member 20 and bridges the distance between the side walls of the socket and also passes through the rear end of the member 26 to pivotally anchor the same in the socket.

The socket 30 may conveniently be formed by a boring or drilling operation wherein the material of the heel portion is removed along two ad- J'acent axes which are slightly spaced from each other.

The distance between the walls of the socket 3B is such that the member 22 is capable of assuming either of two extreme positions as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3 wherein a relatively large circular portion of the rim 36 bears against the upper and lower sides of the cylindrical member 20, thus insuring an extremely rugged construction.

Many shoes are at present manufactured in which the heel portion thereofis out of align ment with the toe portion and the present shoe form is capable of automatically accommodating such shoes by permitting relative shifting movement between the various parts. Toward this end, it will be noted that when the shoe form is inserted in a shoe, the heel portion 22 will automatically assume a position commensurate with the slope of the inner side of the upper heel portion of the shoe while at the same time any misalignment of the heel portion of the shoe with the toe portion thereof will also automatically be compensated for.

What is claimed is:

In a shoe tree, a toe member, a cylindrical rod-like spacing member having one end pivoted to the toe member, a substantially egg-shaped heel-member, there being a centrally disposed recess in the heel membr having a substantially flat generally oval bottom, curved side walls and curved end walls extending outwardly from said bottom to provide a generally oval rim portion, the distance between said side walls being substantially equal to the overall diameter of the cylindrical spacing member, the other end of said spacing member extending into said recess, and means extending across the side walls of the recess for pivotally anchoring the spacing member to the heel member.

2. In a shoe tree, a toe member, a cylindrical rod-like spacing member having one end pivoted to the toe member, a heel member, there being a recess in the heel member having a substantially fiat generally oval bottom, curved side walls and curved end walls extending outwardly in parallelism in a direction normal to said bottom to provide a generally oval rim portion, the curvature of said end'wal-ls conforming substantially to the curvature of the outer surface of the cylindrical member, the distance between said side walls being substantially equal to the overall diameter of the cylindrical spacing member, the other end of said spacing member extending into said recess, and means extending across the side walls of the recess for pivotally anchoring the spacing member to the heel member.

JAMES B. MUTCH. 

